DJ bars

The peaceful little Back Bay neighborhood of Bay Village may be known for its charming, lamp-lit streets and modest brick townhouses, but it's also home to the wildest drag shows in town. Seven days a week at Jacques Cabaret, you can see the most glamorous showgirls from New England and beyond. Watch as they cajole, charm and, if necessary, blackmail dollars from the audience with virtuosic displays of glamor…

A touchstone, a punchline, a cultural institution, Club Cafe has been ground zero for Boston Gay socializing since 1983. A glossy but friendly combination of restaurant, bar, lounge and dance club, Club Cafe provides full-service fabulousness for all occasions—from after work cocktails to post-Pride shenanigans. Offering everything from cabaret acts in the evening to pop-heavy dance parties on weekends to Sunday morning mass, Club Cafe remains a reliable social standby for a wide cross section of the city’s LGBT community.

A homey neighborhood bar with a dangerously diverse mix of acts from Boston and beyond, the Midway also features regular DJ nights and the epic, gay-themed Dyke Nite on Thursdays. Did we mention that you can buy a 16-ouncer of Gansett for $3? Well, perhaps we should. Though not officially gay, this tiny, noisy, divey Jamaica Plain rock bar has always been popular with local queer folk. On Thursdays, a rowdy, dykey crowd takes over the bumping dance floor and postage-stamp stage for Queeraoke.